Disinfecting apparatus.



no. 714,785. Patented 0%,2, 1902.

' 5;". DAVIS & c. 000K.

DISINFECTING APPARATUS.-

Applica.ticm filed July 8, 190L| (No Model) wimesses @uwemkws fmw" 6M4. 601%,

UNITED STATES BENJAMIN M. DAVIS, on Los ANGELES, AND CALEB E. COOK, on WHITTIER,

CALIFORNIA.

DISINFECTING AP PARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 714,785, dated December 2, 1902.

Application filed July 3, 1901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN M. DAVIS, of Los Angeles, and CALEB E. COOK, of Whittier, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Disinfecting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide superior, economical, and extremely simple means for producing methyl aldehyde and ethyl aldehyde for disinfecting and fumigating and for other uses.

,One of the objects is to provide a simple appliance which can be readily used by patients in self-treatment of tuberculosis, catarrh, and other diseases subject to germicidal treatment.

The accompanying drawings illustrate our invention in the simple form in which we prefer to carry it out.

Figure I is an elevation of apparatus embodying our invention. Fig. II is a plan of the same.

1 indicates an ordinary alcohol-lamp provided with an ordinary alcohol-burner 2. 3 indicates the wick of the burner. All of these are of the ordinary construction for setting up combustion in a portion of ethyl alcohol or wood=alcohol. Either kind of alcohol may be used for producing the disinfecting-gas.

4 indicates an open-ended tube located at a definite distance above the space where evaporation of the alcohol takes place. Said tube is preferably arranged upright axially above the wick 3 at, say, a quarter of the diameter, more or less, of the tube 4. above the burner 2, thus producing an open combustionspace between the burner and the tube, so that the lower open endof the tubeis in the zone of the flame.

seen in. 67,068. (No model.)

nary way and will burn at the open combustion-space 7 between the wick and the tube.

The heat from the blaze thus produced induces a draft upward through the open-ended tube 4, thus drawing into the tube the resultant products of the partial combustion which occurs between the wick and tube and will discharge such products at the upper end of the tube.

The operator in actual practice will adjust the tube to the appropriate height above the wick where combustion is to be set up and will then ignite the alcohol at the wick. The tube thus positioned admits of an appropriate oxidation of the alcohol to produce formaldehyde or ethyl aldehyde, depending upon the kind of alcohol used. By adjusting the tube up or down the open space between the burner and tube will be increased or decreased and the amount of oxidation will be thus regulated, thus bringing the apparatus into the most effective adjustment for producing the required reaction.

The operator can determine by inspection the appropriate height to which the tube should be adjusted. The diameter of the tube must be less than the diameter of the open space in which the combustion takes place, and the lower open end of the tube must be in the zone of the flame. This is indicated in the drawings at 7, where the flame is shown.

When the process is in operation, the odor will indicate the character of the product.

The tube l is -desirably imperforate, as

shown, for economy of manufacture and for the further reason that the form shown has been found to give us the most satisfactory results.

W'hat we claim, and desire to secure by Lettors Patent of the United States, is- 1. A disinfecting apparatus comprising an alcohol-burner; a support; an open-ended tube; and a flexible connection fastened to said tube and connected with the support and supporting said tube at a definite distance above the burner, an open combustion-space being provided between the burner and the lower end of the tube. it

2. A disinfecting apparatus comprising an alcohol-burner; a support; an imperforate too open-ended tube; and means flexibly contwo subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles,

meeting said tube with the support and sup California, this 26th day of June, 1901.

porting said tube at a definite distance above the burner, an open combustion-space being AVIS provided between the burner and the lower end of the tube. Witnesses:

In testimony whereof we have signed our JAMES R, TOWNSEND, names to this specification, in the presence of E. A. WATERMAN. 

